Two autograph letters signed [manuscript].

Cremona, 13 August 1594.

2 items

Text in Italian

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Corsini archive (Christies Robson Lowe 4 September 1984)

Italy.

FAST ACC 272150

Purchase made possible by The Albert H. and Shirley Small Acquisitions Endowment Fund. From dealer's description: "3. CIPELLETTO, Geronimo. [Two autograph letters signed, each addressed to the Florentine merchant Bartolomeo Corsini in London, reporting on business transacted in the Italian cloth market.] I. Cremona, 13 August 1594 (incorporating copy letter dated 6 August 1594). Autograph letter signed, ink on paper. [3] pages; II. Cremona, 20 November 1599 (incorporating letter dated 30 October 1599). Autograph letter signed, ink on paper. [2 1/2] pages, both folio (approx. 22 x 33cm) in Italian, on bifolia, verso of second leaf of each bifolium penned with manuscript address panel, blank lower half of second leaf of bifolium of 20 Nov. letter excised contemporaneously for paper reuse (no loss of text), both with red wax seals (one almost intact) of Cipelletto’s mercantile mark & attached string ties, edges uncut, old folds, very good condition. These two letters sent from Cremona in 1594 & 1599 by the mercantile agent Geronimo Cipelletto to the prominent Florentine merchant Bartolomeo Corsini (1545-1613), resident in London, concern transactions in the Anglo-Italian cloth trade of the late Elizabethan period. Both relate to the sale of English baize (coarse woollen cloth) in Italy and the export of fustian (heavy cotton cloth) from Cremona to London via Nuremberg. The letter of 13 August 1594 records pricing information for Fustian in different Italian markets with their various currencies, transport arrangements by horse for several shipments, details of the sale by Corsini in London of Cipelletto’s “dobletti” (a cloth made with a mixture of cotton, wool and linen) and updates on transactions with other merchant houses, including Vergani, Raimondi & Volpi of Milan, Torrigiani of Nuremberg, and Grill & Spinola in Antwerp. In the second letter, 20 November 1599, in addition to more mercantile matters, Cipelletto provides an account of the murder of his nephew. Sent out to settle business errands on behalf of some merchant friends he was attacked and slain by three assassins who thought he was carrying money, the assailants later being brought to justice and sentenced. Provenance: Corsini archive (dispersed Christies Robson Lowe, 1984-1988)." Ordered from Samuel Gedge, D9420, 2020-11-23, Cat. 30 item #3.

272150